>> it's going to take a few more years to solve challenges that are building up over decades. i have always said that change takes more than one term. lou: but can we afford another term? commerce department today revising real second-quarter gdp growth down to an anemic 1.3%. down from the previous of 1.7%. it is the lowest reported growth rate since the third quarter of last year. bad news in the manufacturing sector as well. orders for durable goods plunged more than 13% in august.

since the month president obama took office, much worse than economists had feared. alan krueger writing that we are making progress and the last thing we should do, said this economist, is returned to the economic policies that failed us in the past. his predecessor in the white house, austan goolsbee had predicted earlier this year that economic growth is your own 10 year would be a big obstacle to the president's reelection. >> i would say if the economy is growing 3% or above, the presidents would have major headwinds. he will be facing trouble for it. lou: recent polls show incredibly that the romney campaign has been unable to capitalize on the president's

economic policy failure. >> we will take all of that back up again. also, israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu, calling on the united states and united nations to draw a clear red line on iran's nuclear program and former ambassador john bolton. also, shelby steele on how group and identity politics is shaping this presidential election. turning back to the president's so-called new economic patriotism, the polls and what we can expect over the final 40 days now until election day.

clinton adviser, fox news political analyst, doug schoen. also, ed rollins, former reagan political director, it's good to have you with us weather thank you very much for having me. lou: let me start with this new theme. we can all agree that the president has a thing called forward i want to understand, if you will, the motto or mitt romney.

this is a man ready to sell himself. you don't get to be president simply because you have a combination of democratic election. he has 30 days at this point in time. i would not mention the present. everyone knows this president has failed and nobody's going to google for this president thinking that he has been a great president. lou: i have never seen so many people, including democrats, so willing to offer a candidate, in this case, governor romney, about how to quickly turn your campaign around in the final 40 days. >> obviously, they are not listening to many people. but he has to go sell what his alternative is. >> i think he has been

invisible. jobs, economic growth, forward for the country that strengthens our position in the world and asserts our uniqueness as a nation. >> i think that is -- if i may say, that's absolutely elegant. my question is, what the president who has now an economy with a 13% durable goods order, which takes us back to the heart of the recession will from which we are to have recovered over the years the american people have no plan to go forward.

>> they want a plan from governor romney. not attack ads, not more criticism. they get your point and they want to know what the specifics are. just something to give them hope and change. in this particular case, all they are doing every day is beating up the president of the people realize they have failed as a president, but they are not offering an acceptable alternative. lou: how much can you like a man who is not delivering? >> you should not. here is what happens. i'm going to cut your taxes and i'm not sure how much. i'm going to repeal obamacare, but i'm not sure how much. there are a lot of things. i'm going to change the government, but i have to wait to meet with the congress. lou: that is president obama who is cutting that. >> my point is that is the romney slogan. i have been running for president for six years, here is what i'm going to do. i think that is why it --

lou: if you are telling the truth, both of you have said the same thing, the voters want specificity and they want to plan. why in gods name would they not want performance and a plan from the president of the united states who has failed to this point in his administration. their point is that according to the polls, is that we don't particularly have confidence in obama, but we have less and governor romney. this is not good news for the president. it's very governors. lou: basically what you're saying to me is, this president, who has blamed his policy failures on his predecessor, now has the wonderful advantage of running against an opponent who he can blame prospectively for the next four years. without even following the scenario.

>> the thing that amazes me, i look at the polls and i see the country clearly wants change and they want someone new. they like obama. but they don't think he has been a strong leader. yet, they still will vote for him. that shows me that he has failed because there is no plan and at the end of the day, he has to be a salesman and quit talking about the president and talk about himself. lou: okay, talking about himself. we will find out how well he debates. is that sufficient? >> it's not a quick fix. he needs specifics and ideas and something that you can dwell on going forward that gives a credible and clear alternative. lou: we both understand, we've known each other for some time. i have a very hard time reaching that chasm. at the idea that a president would not be responsible for his record, but a challenger would be for this recommendation.

>> is a it is a peculiar election. i think what should have been a slamdunk, we are failing miserably as far as an alternative to it is absolutely right. this is an electorate that wants to vote for change. the question is, governor, why should we vote for you. how do you resolve all the questions that we have about you and what are your clear alternatives to the current mess? that question has to be answered for the governor to win. lou: all right, and gentlemen, thank you very much. well, the elections, much more elections and we are working on it with the "a-team." benjamin netanyahu insists that they can draw a clear red line to stop iran from building a bomb. will that redline stop iran? or will it lead to war? ambassador john bolton joins us.

one of the financial world's leading individuals, he joins us next

lou: in tonight's technology connect, shares of research in motion are sharing on chen

soaring 20%. the blackberry maker. it has the new blackberry tends my phone, they are banking on the device and its comeback. research in motion employees are, i have to say, working hard to convince people of just that. with a new music video. catch this. >> ♪ ♪ the video, receiving however

mixed reviews at a developers' conference this week. you have to give those folks credit for putting a lot of passion toward their blackberry tan and doing so with weight and, i think, some talent, real talent. stocks today posting the first game of the week. the dow jones industrial up 72 points. the s&p up 14, breaking a 5-day losing streak. the nasdaq, well, it was up 43 points, which is not a bad day. in fact among the best day for the market since the 13th of september when fed chair ben bernanke announced qb three. overseas, spain announcing its budget for next year. you have to love that. a draft budget. the spaniards are not happy about it all. it took to the streets again today, third day in a row if you are counting the austerity watch. the country must convince europe and the world that it can effectively deal with its debt crisis.

the market moving higher today on speculation as well that the central bank of china may move to stimulate the world's second-largest economy, which is dragging along at an estimated, at best, 4-5% growth rate. in economic news we told you earlier that gdp in durable goods fell, but weekly jobless claims surprised some by falling 26,000 last week to 359,000, the lowest level in just about two months. contracts to buy previously owned homes fell over two and a half percent in august, but still above last year. joining me now, the chairman and ceo of bedford oak advisers. great to have you here. 13% plunge in durable goods orders. two percentage. existing home sales. and the market is in love. what's going on?

>> he predicted it last night. i was sitting there watching the show, and he said the market had been down five days in a row. i will tell you, the market really, really goes down or up, for that matter, 60's and a rope. this is about that you could have been on. lou: irrespective of the news of the economy. and the fact of the matter is this market is now being judged by many to be on a trajectory through another leg of massive bull run. thank you, fed chair ben bernanke is the way that concludes. >> basically what you have is an incredible tug-of-war. need to read the cover -- recovery has been very slow and it's going to slow down even more. the first down quarter earnings. number two, news is around this. it is just awful. the market goes up. people in your business have to

find reasons to why the market went up. the market goes up because two-thirds of the trading had nothing to do with anything. lou: and the timeliness of those trades. >> no difference. high-frequency trading. lou: well, it gives us a substantial amount. >> pretty much balance and the tug-of-war is on the other side you have been bernanke who is a 1-trick pony who says, the way to deal with this problem is to continue to stimulate. he has now put the pedal to the floor because it has not worked, and he is going to continue to do the same thing. lou: amongst the many reasons that folks watching this broadcast have tried to discern what is happening with our political economy as best we can gather from the facts, evidence, and some serious hunches from time to time, what is your best estimate as to what is going to

happen with this market? what lies ahead? this, the tension that is rising between the real economy, the financial economy, and specifically the equities market seems to me to be moving to a very high level. >> well, look. my job is not to predict the future because, as mark twain once famously said, no one can do that. my job is to recognize what is going on. what is going on is you have this incredible amount of negative news that does not take the market down. why is that? because this system is awash in liquidity. individuals want yield. they can't get it. corporations want returns. they can't get it. the fed, you can mathematically show why stocks will go up based on what the fed does. the fed, all the news. this guy, obama, who has done a terrible job, a terrible job on

the economy, forget everything else. on the economy. he has been off. his friend has been terrific. >> he has done what he has been trained to do. it says on page 43 of the playbook, this is what you do. he doesn't know what else to do. lou: i have not heard a very good prescription from anyone else to be honest. you have the other side. chilly not functioning. the bottom line is you are in a very, very rare time. >> i can tell you what is going to happen. i just can't tell you when. lou: all right. tell us what is going to happen. >> what is going to happen is, you and i have talked. it the market has got to stop going up. yields are going to rise because if bernanke is right and it works the economy gets better if yields rise.

there will be so much money lost in the bond market that people are not going to believe what happens to it, and that is going to force them, force them to go other places. lou: as always to the thank you for being here. thank you very much. up next, the obama administration admits the september 11th attack and libya that resulted in the murder of our ambassador was, indeed, a terrorist attack. wheat said exactly that the very next day after it occurred. why didn't the administration? why didn't the national liberal media? what is this administration trying to cover up? ambassador john bolton reacts to that question and many others later after three weeks of blown calls nfl owners recognize, well, you have to have a level playing field. we're coming right back. ♪ a ve lately.

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♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, the relevant question is not win there will get the bomb. the relevant question is, at what stage can we no longer stop them from getting the bomb. lou: israeli prime minister speaking to the general assembly earlier today. netanyahu spoke of iran's nuclear ambition and said the world must join israel to stop the iranian nuclear weapon. in other world matters, just a short while ago the united states state department announced it is temporarily withdrawing staff from our

embassy in tripoli, libya, for security reasons. joining us now to discuss his latest development, prime minister netanyahu speech at the united nations and that bold red line. fox news contributor, former u.s. ambassador to the united nations, john bolton. john, let's first turn to this development in tripoli, with strong our personnel. what is that about? >> i think it is a further concession really to reality in libya that it is not secure there and we cannot guarantee the safety of our personnel. if that is the judgment they make and i think the only prudent thing to do is pull them out. lou: do we not look like complete idiots, the united states? it is now two weeks and two days since the murder of our ambassador. we now have figured out there is a security issue? >> apparently we withdraw non-essential personnel before, but the fbi team that is supposed to be investigating has apparently not gonna get either.

lou: they are reporting that they have been there for days and they are not moving around for fear of their own safety, yet we have an ambassador with the state department that has been alerted to the security concerns without, without protection. >> this is a debacle. you cannot lose for americans and not to include somebody has messed up very badly. somebody should be held responsible. think that's one reason why the administration has planned about this. lou: the idea that this is a cover-up straight forward questions about the murder of a mess of stevenson got three other americans including the two former u.s. navy seals still

lusted up and address the american people on what in the world is going on. now they're saying they cannot talk about it because the fbi is called up in a hotel and tripoli >> that does not cut it. lou: this is outrageous. >> there are only two explanations, one is they're lying and covering up, but the other is there so ideologically attached to a world view that the war on terrorism is over, not a threat, libya is actually pretty stable. they cannot adjust to it. i would prefer that the explanation the airline because at least that indicates they understand reality in there trying to cover up. lou: secretary of state clinton and cia, leon panetta, excuse me , dod had leon panetta making it pretty clear that they understood it was allocated and related terrorist groups during this, so they have taken that off of the table lamp.

apparently they have known since the first day that it was a terrorist attack. >> if this reporting turns out to be accurate, and multiple sources are saying this, somebody in the white house must have decided simply were not born to a bat out. one question i have had for quite some time, on that famous sunday when one of my professors did five of the sunday talk shows, why not secretary of state clinton? it was after all her responsibility, not the u.n. ambassador which was a great job and does nothing to do with our ambassador in libya. lou: to be clear, you are implying that the reason was the secretary clinton knew better and was not about to go out and line. >> i think that's a good hypothesis. lou: let's turn to another public appearance, that of the prime minister of israel. standing up saying he wants a clear, bold, red line. 90 percent is the level. the final stage for the iranians

to have a nuclear bomb before that line is breached. this is not a discussion that has already been had with the president, not in discussion that is -- is started in a way as if he was a lone operator. >> he is. as the leader of the democratic society has an obligation to lay out for his assistance when he's going to it taken into military action. at think they're very close to that point. he has tried to have that discussion that the president and it has failed. that is what he was basically doing today, and he made some key points. he moved a little bit in the obama administration direction making it clear there will be no israeli attacks before the election or even before our next inauguration. his logic points inescapably to an israeli attack. it is reinforcement of the skepticism that the obama

administration was projecting toward his demands that the menendez demands, the obama administration response. that was a strange moment today. >> i think he made a very important point that the economic sanctions have not worked to slow down the neck their weapons program. not affecting the nuclear program which means that the next at by their is a rocket center somebody takes the military action. lou: is there some strange way of benefit to this public discussion of policy that would, one seriously your estimate seems, suggest they constrain their public comment, the secretive rather than discuss time lines, red lines, and moments for attack? >> he has now made his point. i think he would be best advised

to stop further public discussion. we passed the real redlines years ago. lou: ambassador john bolton. always good to have you here. >> thank you. lou: much more on the president's policy later with the "a-team." it the naacp has a problem. they say are election laws are racially discriminatory. they're going to the united nations. he has a better idea. just separate the races. we are joined by one of the country's leading social thinkers and authors, shelby steele. you have heard about hillary's plans, what about pills? most to play, and he has an idea how. the "a-team" next. it he was never supposed to have a fair fight. the nfl with all the economic power. it turns out professional football's more entertaining when everyone plays by the rules. we will show you how much money all those screwed up caused by the replacement raffs put in the

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♪ lou: the naacp goes before the u.n. human rights commission demanding an investigation into what it charges are racially discriminatory election laws in this country. while the nation of islam leader louis derek and offers his final solution as he puts it to the difficulty between blacks and whites, his solution, racial separation. here to discuss all of that and much more, shelby steele, one of the country's leading thinkers and authors, senior fellow at the hoover institution specializing in the study of race relations to multiculturalism, an affirmative-action. great to have you with this. >> good to be here. lou: i don't often use the words are real, but when one awakens to louis farrakhan and talking about separating whites and

blacks as a final solution, when the naacp is trotting off to the united nations human rights council with claims of racial discriminatory election laws in this country, i find that cereal. what is your reaction? >> well, it is kind of measure of how lost black american is at this point. one of the things that is fascinating about the election laws which don't allow felons to vote and their claim that this constitutes racial discrimination, without looking at the fact that why are there so many black felons in the first place. why is this such a disproportionate number of felons who lose the vote? as far as i'm concerned, you can reexamine the law if you want to, but the elephant in the room, the real problem is the fact that so many blacks are in

federal prison and commit felonies. that is -- that is where our real -- the real hard work is to be done. of course their focus is always to shifted the other way and say, no, it's white racism. its american racism. avoid the issue. i think that is why they're so irrelevant. lou: it's interesting to watch, and i want to turn to louis farrakhan, but i want to also go on to another point here concerning the republican party principally and how it is seemingly scared to death of discussing anything racial. i was one of those people deeply offended when eric holder in 2009 severe nationwide comes to race and nation of ours. i think he has a right. and did not realize at the time he said it because i was reacting to, you know, as a citizen. i know my fellow citizens are not cowards.

but the idea that the republican party is so timid on the issue of race that it is to be disappointing to said least. >> i would agree with that. i think far more than they need to be. i think america is much farther evolved than they realize. is capable of having serious and frank discussions about racial issues. certainly in the presidential campaign these are issues that ought to be openly discussed, debated. i think they miss an opportunity they might even be surprised to see themselves generate appeal if they talk more frankly and openly about these matters. lou: it is an old expression. >> but there are afraid. lou: it is an old expression from the 60's. if things going to change, something is going to have to change, and that is the way it is. in this instance. let's play for our audience, if

we may, louis sherry can. as the saying goes, we are going to share with you his thoughts and everybody can define what he meant. here we go. >> there is no future for us. in fact, if you look around, already been dropped. the question is, when are we going to drop him and decide to do something for ourselves. no, you are going to be separated all right because that is the final solution to the problem between black and white. lou: what do you think commission of the? >> well, i think he made one good statement and all of that, and that is that we are -- when are we going to do something for ourselves. his profound mistake is to suggest that we have to separate from whites in order to do that. i think that is silly, an idea that has been tried in various

times in american history. it always fails. it cuts off from all sorts of opportunities. join the modern world, join society, think of ourselves more as americans rather than to actually have the idea that and racial identity is somehow going to activate your life. your racial identity is irrelevant. it's very nice. i'm black and proud of it. a benefit from that culture, but i take that culture with me into the american mainstream. that is where we all ought to be headed. farrakhan is a throwback in that sense. we ought to separate the maid is almost a confession of inferiority. we're going to separate because we are afraid we can't compete. lou: to your point, it is also a

paternalistic view and value on the part of the national media. if a white person had been sitting there making the same statements saying we should have separation of the races that person would be accused of white supremacy. i'm sorry. if it is louis farrakhan and its crazy old louis harris can without response. but nonetheless, it has power and impact. as always. lou: we are so far out of time. another 20 minutes i want to talk to you about something. we will continue the conversation soon. appreciated. thank you so much. up next voter fraud in the sunshine state, florida officials revealed shocking or

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♪ lou: of florida election officials have identified nearly 200 residents who may be illegally registered to vote there. the new list based on an extensive review of federal databases is a far cry from the more than 26 under voters who were initially suspected of being illegal in florida. florida governor rick scott defends the effort saying, we are doing absolutely the right thing. we believe an honest and fair elections. i think that's right. state officials said 39 of the nearly 200 potential

non-citizens have voted in previous elections. that is a mighty big state for that number. and as it really just begun, the process. wishful thinking from former president clinton during an interview last night. he revealed he could run for president again, not here. >> the only to countries i'm eligible to run for the position is if i move to the i/o and by house i can run for president ireland because of my irish heritage and because i was born in arkansas which is part of the louisiana purchase, any person anywhere in the world was born in a place that never was part of the french empire, if you live in france for six months you could run for president. lou: we have some bad news for bubble. foreign policy magazine quickly pointing out that the former president does not have irish grandparents. this heritage thing is getting complicated for the democrats.

so he can't run there. french law was amended in 2006 to remove the section of what the clinton referred to, so he is all out of eligibility. however, if you would like to spend a little bit of time, the v-6 months or whenever it might be, it's something to think about. the nfl regular referees are back. the nfl and the referees union reaching a tentative agreement last night in a 3-month lockout. earlier today nfl commissioner roger dow apologized to fans for using those replacements. >> we are sorry to have to bring our fans through that, sorry to bring the general public that. that is unfortunately part of labor-management disputes. but they are also necessary to get those disputes resolved. lou: you know, maybe he even believes that. i don't know. it was a really bad decision on his part in the nfl. frankly, that all got shoved right up his nose. the deal is done and that's a

wrap. move on. even the white house expressing relief. press secretary jay carney called it a great day for america. the referees certainly might agree. under this new deal which they got to sign under the gun, their salaries go from an average 150,000 per year to just under 175,000 next year for part-time work. up to 200,000 over the next few years. not a bad settlement. up next, the obama administration accused of covering up the truth behind the terrorist attack and benghazi. to what end? and, will this president be held accountable at the polls? the "a-team" answers that question and much, much more. there they are. robert zimmerman to much of the diet, monica crowley, robert has all of the tough assignments to my tell you. we're coming right back. ♪

♪ lou: now, the "a-team," columnist for the association of major american citizens, author of the book out numbered, the author of what the bleep just happened, radio talk-show host, fox news contributor moderate to but monica crowley. democratic strategist robert zimmerman. good to have you here. let's start with these polls. robert zimmerman leading democratic strategist, fund-raiser among left-wing. this is for your benefit. the president leading by six points nationally in one poll, closer and another perry will go into that because you're here. in the nbc news poll in new hampshire, 5144.

in north carolina, 48-46 for romney. in nevada, this is interesting, and nevada obama 49-47. congratulations. the president is doing very well. are you ready to start putting the inauguration? >> not even close. no one is watching, no one is in any way backing down. and of tell you what is significant about these polls. in every category you see the country, one is showing their feeling better about the direction which is critical. the trend is clearly in the right track, and in every category the country is trusting obama over romney. this is like the foreign policy economy. lou: that is just about all there is, think. romney is in trouble. >> there is no question that this is a very tight race. some of these polls were they show obama heading in ohio, they are really over sampling democrats and they're also overestimating democratic turnout because they're using -- >> i think everybody will stipulate to that. the deal is, this guy, we can't

find paul ryan on the campaign trail. >> i disagree. at that ron is connecting and rain is connecting. they're generating huge crowds. the only reason people say he is not connecting is because the left-wing media is telling you he's of connecting. that's not true. >> i'm disappointed in some of the romney messaging. when he came out in that ad and said he was talking about the middle class and now obamacare is about the middle-class, i thought that was a misstep. it barack obamacare about the middle class would not be raising taxes. i feel like now is the time were you need to really hit obama strong, foreign policy, economic policy, with respect to benghazi. these are all missteps. i want to see a tougher, stronger. lou: well -- >> of victim of a right wing of his own party. a republican can be a credible national candid as long as they put together an economic problem it can cause a fraud. [talking over each other] lou: why is the white house,

this president, covering about happened in benghazi and has done so for two weeks? this president refusing to by the way, clearly it is perfectly intellectually correct to say that this president has denied truth and, in fact, we have just learned, they had just arrested the guy who produced that silly and amateurish video which she continues to blame for what happened in benghazi and around the middle east and muslim world >> first and foremost is should not be part of a political debate. there has to be an investigation [talking over each other] >> let me point out first to my kind of all school this way. let's have an investigation, the facts. there is a lot we do know. lou: were running out of time. you're on the record. let me turn to monitor for the last couple of words. >> remember when president nixon lied about a cover-up having to do with the break-in at the democratic national committee.

he was impeached. this man has been lying in the administration has been lying about the death of the u.s. ambassador. >> americans deserve answers 56 at thank you very much. i know you have more to say. that's why you'll be back sen. up next, recheck the in-box, what you're proposing an interesting way to end the united nations. that should light up your life. ♪ so... [ gasps ]

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lou: debra wrote me on facebook, thanks mr. treasur dobbs. if you are giving me an easy way for uninonsense to end and end early, maybe if we sense the ladies from the view in, they would leave on their own, i have no further comment other than, good night from new york. neil: we get a lot of polls here at fox, but this one floored me, out from fox news, 79% of americans say more folks should pay more taxes. all americans should pay something in income taxes, that comes on heels of mitt romney's controversial comments dug up from manage he said, -- something he said backed in the spring about 47% of americans who said, they pay